


Fareeha Amari: a Friendly Interview

by NemoTheSurvivor



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Brotherly Jesse McCree, Gen, Joel Morricone, Post-Recall, clandestine meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 05:20:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10960527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NemoTheSurvivor/pseuds/NemoTheSurvivor
Summary: A reporter named Joel Morricone has reached out to Helix Security International for an interview with one Fareeha Amari. The two meet at a café, where Fareeha runs into an old friend.





	Fareeha Amari: a Friendly Interview

Fareeha entered the café, looking at the note handed to her by the HSI official. "Excuse me," Fareeha said to the hostess. "I'm here to meet, uh, Joel?"

"Ah, yes," the woman said, looking at the papers in front of her. "You must be Fareeha. Mr. Morricone requested a private booth. Is that okay?" Fareeha nodded, actually preferring not to be interviewed in public. The hostess waved a server over. "Booth seven."

"Follow me, please," the omnic server said, walking away. Fareeha followed close behind. The omnic stopped at a privacy booth before knocking and pushing a button next to a small speaker. "Mr. Morricone, your guest is here," the omnic said. No response. After knocking and waiting again, the omnic opened the door. The room was empty. "He must be in the restroom. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you," Fareeha said, sitting down. Her instincts warned her that something was off. However, she suppressed the feelings. Whoever this Joel Morricone was, he arranged the interview through HSI, and Helix does thorough background checks. Besides, Fareeha read several of his articles, and Joel was certainly a fan of Jesse McCree, and that made him okay in her book.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and a familiar voice said, "Fancy meetin' you here."

Fareeha looked up, startled. Jesse, dressed in khaki pants, a polo, and a white fedora, smiled at her as he tipped his hat. After Jesse shut the door, Fareeha exclaimed. "Jesse! What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for an interview," he said with a shrug before sitting down. "I already ordered you somethin' to drink."

"What do you mean here for–" Fareeha paused, thinking. "You're Joel Morricone?"

"Don't call me Joel," Jesse said, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Fareeha. "How'd the interview go?"

Fareeha took the piece of paper and read it over. Several basic interview questions–why'd you join Helix Security International, what's it like to spend your entire life as a soldier, how was it growing up in the shadow of Overwatch, etc.–along with the answers were scribbled on the paper. "Did you answer the questions for me?" Fareeha asked. Jesse nodded. As Fareeha read the interview, the omnic server came back. After Jesse let the server in, the omnic put a root beer float in front of Fareeha and a glass of water in front of Jesse before leaving the two alone.

"Well?" Jesse asked.

Fareeha nodded as she read the answers. "Sounds like me," Fareeha said. "If you didn't invite me here for an interview, then why are you here?"

"I was just passin' through," Jesse said. "Thought I'd stop by and say hello."

Fareeha sucked on the straw for the root beer float. "Is that all?" she asked. Jesse didn’t immediately answer, which was answer enough for Fareeha. They remained silent for a moment, Fareeha enjoying her drink while Jesse fiddled with his straw. "Should we skip the pleasantries, or do you want to start the conversation with a smile?"

"I like the tattoo," McCree said, idly scratching the spot under his eye as he deflected the question. "Looks familiar."

"It's in honor of my mother," Fareeha said, touching it.

"Fits you well," McCree said.

"I don't believe you," Fareeha said with a smile. Jesse cocked an eyebrow. "You are a liar, after all."

"When did I lie to you?" McCree asked.

"You promised me we would be in Overwatch together," Fareeha said, nonchalant. "Guess that was a promise you never intended to keep."

Jesse smiled as held up his hands. "Ya got me," he said. "Didn't have the heart to tell you no. And since your mother told me not to tell you about my job or my past, it was the best I could do."

Fareeha grabbed her root beer float as she asked, "And why'd she do that?"

"Dunno," Jesse said. "Seems obvious to not tell a child that I'm a murderer who works for a black ops group that specializes in breaking the law–" he shrugged "–but who knows what Ana was thinking when she made me swear not to tell you I was in Deadlock or Blackwatch. Guess she knew you would be wanting to hang out with a cowboy."

"Hmm," Fareeha hummed, sipping her drink. At the mention of Blackwatch, the air between the two grew tense. After a moment of nothing, Fareeha said, "So, Blackwatch."

Jesse leaned back as he said, "Not much I can say that you don't know."

"I doubt that," Fareeha said. "What was Blackwatch?"

"The U.N. declassified everythin' relatin' to Blackwatch. And they keep better records than I do."

Fareeha leaned forward. "What. Was. Blackwatch."

Jesse sighed as he lighted a cigar. After blowing out the smoke, he said, "Blackwatch was what Overwatch should have been."

Fareeha blinked, processing what Jesse said. "Excuse me?"

"Overwatch was held back by politics," Jesse said, waving around his right hand as it held the cigar. "Blackwatch could actually get things done. It wasn't exactly pretty, but what we did was necessary to stop the world from destroyin' itself."

Fareeha looked at Jesse, traces of shock on her face. "Do you actually believe the lies coming out of your mouth?" she asked.

"I wouldn't call them lies," Jesse said, taking a draw of his cigar, "but yeah, I do."

"Overwatch needed rules," Fareeha said. "If they could just do anything they wanted, anywhere they wanted to, at any time, they would be no better than organizations like Talon."

Jesse chuckled. "I can see how'd you think that. But then again, that's a little narrow minded."

"What do you mean, 'narrow minded'?" Fareeha asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Sure, on the surface, it seems simple," Jesse said. "Good guys follow the rules, bad guys break them. But think about it. Overwatch–that'd be the Strike Team, not the organization–operated without rules or regulations, guided only by their task and their morals. And guess what, they saved the world." Jesse took another draw of his cigar. "Reyes understood that. So did Morrison. That's why they made Blackwatch; to do what Overwatch couldn't."

"Overwatch broke the rules to do what was right," Fareeha said. "Multiple times."

"And every time, it bit Morrison in the rear," Jesse said. "They couldn't do anythin' without every single move being overanalyzed by people who didn't know right from left. Blackwatch didn't have that problem. Made fixing problems simple."

"Simple?" Fareeha yelled, standing. "You call assassinations a 'simple' way to fix problems? You think kidnapping and blackmail are 'simple' solutions?"

"Yep," Jesse said calmly. "Bad guys can't do bad when they're dead."

"I can't believe this," Fareeha said, sitting down as she stared at Jesse. "I looked up to you, but you were never the hero I thought you were."

Jesse took a deep draw of his cigar as he met Fareeha's stare. "I never said I was a good man," he said after blowing out smoke. "'Course, that doesn't mean I can't do good." Fareeha didn't react. "Look, you don't have to agree with me. I ain't tryin' to tell you to change who you are, 'Cause truth be told, there's a lotta good someone like you can do in the world compared to someone like me." Fareeha blinked, her eyes softening but her posture still rigid. Jesse took another draw of cigar, letting it out with a sigh. "You wanted to know why I did what I did, and I told ya. That's all." Fareeha drop her gaze to her drink, and the two shared a mutual silence for several minutes. After taking a couple more draws from his cigar, Jesse stood. "I think I overstayed my welcome," he said. "Should probably skip town before anyone realizes I'm here–or that you're talkin' to me. We good?"

"I–" Fareeha said, hesitating. "I don't know if I can forgive you, Jesse." She looked up at him. "I really don't."

"I don't need your forgiveness," Jesse said, going to leave. "I know what I did and why I did it. Nothin' you say will change that." He tipped his hat. "'Till next time."

"Wait," Fareeha said, grabbing Jesse's hand but not looking at him. After a second's hesitation and a sigh, she asked, "Have you heard the rumors? Overwatch is back."

"'Course I have," Jesse said. "You know, it ain't exactly legal now. Makes it more like Blackwatch, in a way."

"I know," Fareeha said.

Jesse cocked an eyebrow. "If you're wonderin' if you'd be welcome, I don't see a reason why not. 'Sides, if anyone would be able to keep our moral compasses in check, it'd be the next Jack Morrison."

Fareeha looked up in shock. "But I'm not–" She stopped when Jesse chuckled.

Jesse grinned as he said, "If you ain't his equal, you're his better." With a tip of his hat, Jesse left before Fareeha could respond.

Fareeha sat for several minutes, thinking about the conversation. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a postcard on the table. Picking it up, Fareeha looked it over. The front of it read _Greetings from Gibralter_. Turning it around and reading the back, Fareeha smiled. _The cavalry's getting back together. Yours truly, Lena and Winston._

"Maybe one day," Fareeha said to herself, pocketing the postcard. _As much as I want to join Overwatch, I want to make sure that's who I join._


End file.
